Henry: A vote for cirtue outlasts impeachment

Posted: Thursday, January 07, 1999

It isn't known whether James Madison's moving speech before the Virginia Ratifying Convention on June 20, 1788 - delivered five days before Virginia ratified the Constitution - knocked any of the stylish but boorish white wigs off the heads of any of his peers.

Dave

Henry

What is known is Madison kicked the political posterior of his chief antagonist, Patrick Henry.

Before we go any further, there is no immediate relation I'm aware of. But I've never had the pleasure of having my DNA examined to determine what my Irish ancestors may have perpetrated eons ago in a drunken stupor, which I'm quite sure many of them found themselves in on a regular basis. Besides, I'm not so confident I'd want to be a direct relative of a Constitution-basher. Right, Roger Clinton?

Back to Madison for a moment.

His comments reveal the current state of the union much more than any spin-doctored speech which the president may or may not deliver Jan. 19.

"I go on this great republican principle that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not we are in a wretched situation," Madison said. "To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea. If there be sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community it will be exercised in the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their virtue or put confidence in our rulers but in the people who are to choose them."

Time to take a good look in the mirror. Have we reached the point in this country where lying under oath and to the American people doesn't even reach the point of being an impeachable misdemeanor much less a high crime?

On the other hand, have we lowered ourselves to allowing a fat porn slob to dictate the qualifications of elected officials?

How did we get to this "wretched situation" Madison spoke of, and more importantly, what has happened to our virtue?

"Americans in general are caught between two things," said James Calvi, head of the history and political science department at West Texas A&M. "One is what's right and the other is what works. The people who are bemoaning the lack of morality in the country are focusing on what's right. The president's approval rating indicates another group of Americans is focusing on what works. There is a gap between these two schools of thought."

A gap that will be very apparent today as the Senate begins the process of putting an impeached president on trial. The effects of this historic event will determine the nation's virtue, regardless of the outcome. And in some ways, it doesn't really matter what happens.

The president has been politically wounded. His integrity, perhaps the most important attribute of his office, is long gone - much like a plate of cheese fries around Larry Flynt.

That puts the ball back in our court for the next two years.

The reverberations of impeachment will be the primary test of this nation's virtue. The eventual punishment of this president will determine the standard we apply to the 43rd president and where we go from here, that is assuming there are candidates of substance willing to withstand this yet-to-be-determined standard.

"I think absolutely this will have a chilling effect on candidates who might otherwise be qualified to run for the presidency," Calvi said. "A lot of people will be deterred from seeking public office because of this."

Possible Democratic hopeful Bill Bradley, as well as possible Republican front-runner Gov. George W. Bush, both expressed reservations about running for this very reason during visits to Amarillo in the past year.

This nation has to reach a kind of middle ground.

Clearly, we cannot allow a president who thinks impeachment "isn't that bad" to lie before a grand jury and use ridiculous legalese to split the nation apart. On the other hand, we definitely do not need a clown like Flynt delving into people's private lives and destroying careers in the process.

So where is the halfway point?

It will exist when a candidate for the highest office in the land emerges who possesses enough authority, integrity and responsibility not to force the public to draw a line in the sand.

And those candidates are out there.

The nation's sense of virtue of which Madison spoke of will find them.

Dave Henry is an editorial writer for the Amarillo Globe-News, P.O. Box 2091, Amarillo, Texas 79166. His e-mail address is opinion@amarillonet.com. His column appears in the Thursday Daily News.